micing drums

[isaac]

I'm a newb to recording and I'm thinking of buying a Yamaha MD8 so I can record my band's demo. My question is, though, if I mic the three toms, bass drum, snare, and two cymbals, that's 7 mics (and 7 inputs!) - is there some kind of cable or something that can knock these down to one or two inputs, or would we have to record the drums first and the mix them down to two tracks (or am I completely wrong about everything)?

Cheers,

Isaac

[Dan DA]

You don't need to mic each drum. Mic the kick, snare, and put up an overhead (or pair).

[Gidge]

you could get a small mixer and submix the drums down to one or two channels......

Carvin makes a 16 channel mixer (8 preamps) that goes for about $250......
http://www.carvin.com/cgi-bin/Isearc...P2=SM162&P1=MX

if you wanna go cheaper and less $$$$ and 4 preamps
http://www.8thstreet.com/product.asp...ategory=Mixers

[Dan DA]

I agree with Gidge. Most people won't mention the Behringer brand here for fear of opening a floodgate of ridicule, but if your budget is limited, it's a perfectly acceptable option. Just buy it somewhere that it can be returned if it's not working properly. Their quality control isn't what it should be.

[coloradojay]

Dan DA likes Behringer - na nanana naaaa!
Dan DA likes Behringer - na nanana naaaa!
Dan DA likes Behringer - na nanana naaaa!
Dan DA likes Behringer - na nanana naaaa!
Dan DA likes Behringer - na nanana naaaa!

J/K

I have a Behringer board, and my first one had to be returned after 3 days use, so ditto on what Dan said.

[Dan DA]

Very, very funny!!!

Hey, I'm in NW Boulder County. I got my Behringer at Robb's Music. Do you ever shop there?

[coloradojay]

Yup, Robb's is cool, so is Robb. I've bought lots of random stuff from him and even consigned a drum kit with him back in the 80s when he was on West Pearl, I think where Jax is now. I do like to support my local music shop, but I got mine at GC, at cost (which at this point is really a loss for them since they had to go to the trouble of replacing it already)- I always hustle GC and MusiciansFreind for unreal deals. At Robb's I rarely haggle. It's cool to have an owner operated shop in town though. He'll price match too, but in this case I didn't want it to cost him. I had an ex-girl's guitar repaired there last year. Really good guitar repair guy- great deal for the service too.

I also do a lot/most of my purcussion purchases from Sandy at Boulder Drums. Here again though, sometimes he can't really make any profit competing with the big corporates, so I save him the trouble.

I reccommend people to both shops often too.

[Blue Bear Sound]

Originally posted by isaac
I'm a newb to recording and I'm thinking of buying a Yamaha MD8 so I can record my band's demo. My question is, though, if I mic the three toms, bass drum, snare, and two cymbals, that's 7 mics (and 7 inputs!) - is there some kind of cable or something that can knock these down to one or two inputs, or would we have to record the drums first and the mix them down to two tracks (or am I completely wrong about everything)?

Cheers,

Isaac

This older BLOG of mine may give you some hints....

[coloradojay]

Cool journal Blue Bear. I always enjoy/ learn from reading your stuff. Thanks,

J

[SirPsychoSexy]

Holy shit bluebear, on that BLOG, did you just yank those pics of drumkits off the net, or did you actually record someone named RICHARD BAXTER???